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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27236887">Star Wars Episode X: The rise of the Empire</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/oh_jeez_dude/pseuds/oh_jeez_dude'>oh_jeez_dude</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Star Wars [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Asexual Character, Gen, Heavy Angst, Non-binary character, Teen Angst</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 22:28:15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,635</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27236887</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/oh_jeez_dude/pseuds/oh_jeez_dude</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>a new empire is rebuilt with an even stronger sith lord sending ripples of terror across the galaxy. it’s up to a stranded young rebel warrior to bring balance to the force—and return to aid the alliance, before it’s too late.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Luke Skywalker &amp; Original Character(s), Luke Skywalker &amp; Original Child Character(s), Luke Skywalker &amp; Original Male Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Star Wars [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1988650</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Star Wars Episode X: The rise of the Empire</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>some notes:<br/>-kaine's born 9 months after the last jedi<br/>-kaine's asexual though it's not mentioned<br/>-kaine pronouns are 'he/they'<br/>-luke, during ROTJ had known the mandalorian, and the two may or may not had a relationship, before they parted ways and luke had married his wife later on, but i'll never tell;)))<br/>-going off of that previous note, even though this is a head-canon of mine after the events of season 1, mando held the darksaber for safe keeping, and gave it to luke when he heard he had Kaine.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p>
<hr/>
<p class="p1">force ghosts have always been a topic of debate. people speculate there could be ghosts of the light and dark side, most argue force ghosts only belong to one side—that Sith ghosts simply ‘don’t exist.’</p>
<p class="p1">But in actuality, they do. there’s a Sith lord, who’s name is feared across the galaxy more so than Darth Vader or Kylo Ren ever was: Haro Kesyk. the sadistic oppressor brought the Jedi to their knees, even the Rebellion at the time couldn’t stop him. though it came to an end, when he sensed the destruction of the Empire after that Skywalker scum decided to save the day. Haro wants to rebuild it. he wants to strike fear into the hearts of the ones who fought against the Empire.</p>
<p class="p1">So, he seeks out potential people who have a strong sense of the force that he can corrupt and use to do what he always wanted. one potential force user piques his interest, Redar Brandall is the name. his sense of the force is strong enough to the point where it intimidated the Sith lord. Better yet, Redar doesn’t even know he has the force. it’s laid dormant within him, It’s perfect for his inevitable corruption. Haro took action and immediately commenced on this plan, and it worked—15 years later, that is.</p>
<p class="p1">Those 15 years saw the return of the Empire and the rise of a newly made resistance. One called ‘<em>The Insurgence</em>’. Though it wasn’t without it’s rocky beginnings. The group itself were desperate to find strong willed warriors to fight against the overwhelming forces of the empire, they partly succeeded, especially with a certain member.</p>
<p class="p1">Kaine O’Riley, who unbeknownst to him is the son of Luke Skywalker, dying before he was born and wanting his family to be safe; Luke sent his mother: Myria O’Riley, away from the ongoing war, successfully giving birth to their son. and for extra precaution, not wanting the Empire to know how significant Kaine was, Myria had adopted fake names for them on official documents, Kaine's being "<em>Kyren Oliver." </em>Despite the young boy not knowing why. The two lived a rather sheltered life on Tatooine. while his mother is a loving and caring woman, she tended to avoid answering questions about his father. And upon learning the Empire was starting another war—Kaine joined the Insurgence without much question at first from the alliance itself, he gives his mother a teary goodbye.</p>
<p class="p1">Kaine was by far their youngest member, at 15. when the desperation wore off, there were rightfully some doubts—though he had shown potential. being decent in combat, preferring long range fighting, favoring blasters and weapons. </p>
<p class="p1">Kaine stood out from most of the crew. They have olive skin, dark brown eyes and glasses that were always irritatingly loose. (which didn’t help in training or on the battlefield.) short curly hair that fell over his eyes and had streaks of white in them that were instantly recognizable if anyone were looking for him. They were shorter than most of the kids his age, standing at 4”12’ but he didn’t seem to mind. (though he wouldn’t admit he was self conscious of it.)</p>
<p class="p1">They were quiet. preferring not to talk a lot of the time, (he wouldn’t admit he was self conscious of his voice as well.) though in one of the rare times he spoke—obviously, they were soft spoken, his voice a bit deep but raspy and sometimes awkwardly high pitched. It was ironic considering he would practically talk the ears off of whoever he was comfortable with, not to mention close to.</p>
<p class="p1">Kaine was almost the pinnacle of what the light side was. Just like his father he had a strong sense of goodness, he’s full of life and inquisitive. They're very kind, willing to help anyone who deserved it. Kaine’s extremely pleasant to be around. He’s laid back, able to brighten up the room and the people around him with his warm presence and humor. They was a breath of fresh air to the crew of the Insurgence, with everyone seeing him as thier ‘little brother.’</p>
<p class="p1">Though, he wasn’t without his flaws. as much as Luke hoped he wouldn’t have passed down any of his certain....<em>traits</em>, it proved otherwise. Kaine tended to be hot-headed and impatient, mostly when something wouldn’t go his way or when he was told to do something he doesn’t want to. On rare occasions he could be arrogant which was balanced out by his anxiety, as he practically worried about everything. He was like any teenager, having mood swings—a bit immature and irresponsible, even sometimes he would throw temper tantrums. But at the end of the day, he had a good heart, no one could dispute that.</p>
<hr/>
<p class="p1">Currently, Kaine with a group of fellow pilots was given a mission to infiltrate the Empire—but of course, it backfired with the Empire sending out it’s stormtroopers to shoot them down.</p>
<p class="p1">Kaine’s x-wing had been shot, it’s engines failing and sputtering to keep flying as it started to fall at a rapid speed toward a nearby planet, Termai.</p>
<p class="p1">The X-wing crashed onto Termai's dusty concrete, the flames downed into smoke as Kaine struggled to get out. Eventually, they fell out and rolled onto the rocky floor, staggering up. Not bothering to pick up their helmet. "Shit!" he gasped as he tried tending to his ship, as it sparked with Kaine shielding himself. They stepped back and observed the damage, he guesses he could still repair it. He gingerly reaches in for his bag, where his weapons and repair kit were. </p>
<p class="p1">It wasn't there. '<em>Great...</em>' they think, as they shed their pilot outfit for their normal outfit, which consisted of a bright yellow leather jacket with a black high cut v-neck underneath, coupled with olive jeans with black boots with a empty holster at the waist. it looked similar to what Luke wore during his celebrating ceremony when blowing up the death star all those years ago.</p>
<p class="p1">Kaine felt like he was being watched, upon taking a quick scan of the area which was mostly desolate, safe for a pond to his right, and some trees scattered about, he peered at the trees before his eyes darted away...there wasn't any danger as far as he could tell. He felt a presence, which he <em>knew</em> was good, he could<em> feel</em> it. but he didn't know <em>why</em>.</p>
<p class="p1">He slowly turned around to see...the ghost of Luke Skywalker. </p>
<p class="p1">Kaine startled and fell to the ground, "What the hell? am I going crazy...you're Luke Skywalker...you're dead!" Kaine almost screeched, as he scrambled up, getting into a defensive fighting stance, to which Luke made a face at. "yeah, don't rub it in. you're not going crazy, I'm simply a force ghost. I sensed your distress and I wanted to help." Luke said gently to which Kaine scowled at. "A force ghost? the force ain't real. it's just a bunch of spiritual baloney, I must be dead because I don't believe you're<em> even here!</em>" Kaine never really was a believer of the force, sure he knew it <em>existed</em>, but he chalked it up to being luck, in his mind the force was for religious phonies. </p>
<p class="p1">Kaine's view of the force reminded Luke of Han, and he really couldn't change his mind on it unless he experienced it himself, it was the true quote en quote "Skywalker Stubbornness," and upon watching his son grow up he felt they were a lot like him, in fact he was proud of his son. he truly was.</p>
<hr/>
<p class="p1">Redar stood, looking out at his ship's vast window. "Darth Redar!" one of his workers called as she went up to him, "the plan is in motion. the rebellion has received the message. we've sent out stormtroopers to invade their base. Is there anything else we need to do?" she asks, as Redar looks to Hano, who shakes his head 'no.'</p>
<p class="p1">"no. we don't need to do anything." Redar shoos her away, as he speaks to the Sith ghost. "We're finally doing it, laying waste to the rebellion." Hano nods. "You've done exceptionally well. the same goes for your force training. speaking of which it's time to practice." Hano leads him out to the training grounds, where Redar succeeds in the tasks the Sith ghost gives.</p>
<p class="p1">Redar has gotten so much stronger, stronger than himself. it’s intimidating, the power he feels within the man. so this time—he pushes Redar. barking out tasks compared to his stoic deliverance just a few minutes prior. The ghost could feel the anger radiating off of the young man, as much as he’s trying to hide it—he can’t. it’s like an oncoming storm. Hano wants him to harness that, to <em>break</em> the poor man’s mind compared to what it was as of now. Hano wants to spread <em>fear</em> across the stars as the Empire accomplished time and time again, the only way to succeed in his sickened mind is to <em>unforgivingly</em> and with such <em>malice</em>, push an already broken man past his limits. </p>
<hr/>
<p class="p1">Kaine decides to explore Termai with Luke, hoping to find some tech so he could repair his ship and return to the rebel base. his crew must be worried, and he wouldn't want them to be. fear tightens his chest as he shakes away the thought. Luke could tell, his son was being quieter than usual, and really that was the only way someone could tell if something were wrong, and he knew what the problem was--but he didn't want to upset his son further and instead tapped into the force's energy just slightly to instill some reassurance and calmness within his son's mind, which was swimming with worry. </p>
<p class="p1">Kaine heard shuffling behind him, quickly he took off to a cave's entrance ahead of him. They took a peek from the corner to see who was talking, since the voices were nearing. there were a pair of stormtroopers. one of them paused, "Hey, you feel that? feels like someone's watching us." Kaine pulled back quickly and tried to muffle their already loud breathing. their heart hammering, the stormtrooper looked in the general direction of where he thought Kaine was. the stormtrooper beside the one who voiced his concerns, scoffed. "It's probably nothing." </p>
<p class="p1">Kaine waited for a beat, before checking if there was a chance to escape. They peered again, "<em>Hey!</em>" one of the stormtroopers shouted.</p>
<p class="p1">
  <em>Crap, he'd been caught. </em>
</p>
<p class="p1">Kaine dived out of the way from incoming blasts. He scrambled up and pulled out his blaster and started shooting, surprisingly the pair were able to dodge most of them, the soldiers rushed over to Kaine, once realizing they had an opening and started throwing punches left and right, with Kaine managing to block and get a few impressive hits in as well -- though, they were losing, the areas where he'd gotten hit started to ache. Anger bubbled inside his chest, they couldn't lose. they needed to think of something and <em>fast</em>. Desperate times call for desperate measures. </p>
<p class="p1">Kaine tumbled to the concrete with a bruising punch to the jaw, he staggered up. the stormtrooper to his right had pulled out a staff -- it blazed with electricity. the young rebel felt a shock of fear that mixed with the anger he was experiencing. He pulled out his double bladed lightsaber, one end glowed black -- another silver. While he barley used it, considering he never had the proper training—he recalled practicing some fighting stances and techniques he read from some Jedi texts stored in the Insurgents base. As much as he didn’t want to didn’t want to use the lightsaber due to not wanting to associate with Jedi because of their original order’s practices and beliefs, looks as if he doesn’t have a chance. he copied the motions he remembered as he twirled the saber in his hands and got into a fighting stance. </p>
<p class="p1">Luke's eyes widened, from the time he spent watching over his son he never thought he would wield the dark-saber. it looked different from what he remembered, Kaine managed to tweak the dark-saber to look like a normal one, though it still kept it's original cracked design. The only person he knew had it, was Din (the Mandolorian)...and he was long since gone--the most reasonable explanation he could think of was: his old <em>friend</em> had kept it safe once hearing Luke had a son, and had given it to Myria for Kaine to have. What worried Luke most was that dark-saber must've called out to them, it made them its rightful owner. If only the silver lightsaber called out to him instead of the obvious reason of Kaine happening to find it and deciding to craft the double ‘saber. </p>
<p class="p1">Kaine's sabers clashed with the staff, he spun the weapon in his hands as it clashed again. Kaine moved the blade away from the staff, trying to think of a counter attack--though it gave the stormtrooper an opening to electrocute them. He screamed in pain, he tried mustering the energy and formed a fist and attempted to hit the soldier.</p>
<p class="p1">Instead, a loud vibration emitted from Kaine’s fist as a heavy force knocked them at an impressive distance, like a strong gust of wind. The stormtroopers quickly got up and fled.</p>
<p class="p1">Kaine groaned in pain, as he struggled to get up. By time he did, anger boiled within Kaine, why wouldn't Luke do anything to stop them—before he had out of the blue, gained force abilities? if Luke saw the young man was losing, why not help him out? Kaine shook his head. They then noticed some tools, it must've been dropped by the stormtroopers during the fight--it seemed it were good enough to repair his ship, he picked it up and started walking away. </p>
<p class="p1">By time he reached his x-wing, his anger was subsiding. That is until, Luke tried speaking to them.</p>
<p class="p1">"Kyren--" he spoke, only to get cut off.</p>
<p class="p1">"<em>what?</em>" they spat, their voice practically dripping with venom as they turned to face the Jedi. Sounding eerily like Anakin whenever he was mad. "What could you possibly want? after not helping me when I had gotten hurt--why say something about it now?" emotion poured out of them as they spoke, the pebbles beneath their feet levitating, of course they took notice of it, but didn't care at the moment. "instead of standing there, you should've done something, <em>anything.</em> even if you can't interact with the physical world. But what a surprise, you didn't, here I thought you were brave, stopping danger whenever it arose. But you're still the same man who had to use I don't even know--astral projection to stop that annoying Kylo. no wonder you died--<em>some Jedi you are</em>." Kaine started to storm off, as his words hit Luke deeply. Though, what could he have done? He couldn’t have done anything, much less use the force. it wasn’t nearly as strong as it been if he were still alive. He found his voice as he said:</p>
<p class="p1">"<em>some father I am.</em>"</p>
<p class="p1">Kaine froze, as the pebbles that were in midair, then broke into tiny pieces. "<em><strong>what?</strong></em>" he spoke shakily. </p>
<p class="p1">Luke decided to use his son's birth name to instill a vague sense of calmness. "Kaine. all those questions you’ve had for years are answered...I’m your father." says Luke, daring not to cry.</p>
<p class="p1">Wordlessly, and completely out of shock and anger—Kaine went to repair his ship with the tools they found, thankfully it worked as he was able to hear the static of his communicator, as one of the rebel members spoke "Kyren! thank god, we've been trying to contact you--the empire...they're planning to wipe out us and the rest of the alliance out. You need to hurry, before-" the comm went out, the static deafening in his ears. </p>
<p class="p1">Kaine jumped into his X-wing and it wouldn't start, the engines failing. He looked to his father, "<em>Take me to the Empire.</em>" He wasn't asking. He was <em>ordering.</em> the only way he could stop this was to go directly to the source. And he knew Luke could very well teleport them there.</p>
<p class="p1">So, Luke complied.</p>
<hr/>
<p class="p1">Kaine arrived at Redar's ship, his anger has already subsided. there wasn’t any point in being irritated, if he had a job to do.  He took some deep breaths to calm himself for good measure. </p>
<p class="p1">He tried to settle into his witty and jokey nature whenever he was on the battlefield, forming a plan—they nonchalantly leaned against a chair, "I hope you know what you're doing..." Luke whispered, "hey, relax. it's me." Kaine mustered a smile though Luke could sense his shock and anger over the reveal, he decided not to say anything about it as the doors opened. The stormtroopers aimed their guns at Kaine as they walk over to face them, he puts his hands up in mock surrender.</p>
<p class="p1">"hey, before you shoot me...you don't happen to know where that Darth Redar guy is, do ya?" the young man jokes.</p>
<p class="p1">"Why? it's best if you don't cause any trouble with Redar and come with us." says one of the 'troopers, holding his gun closer to him. </p>
<p class="p1">"Okay, okay...I'll come," says Kaine, he barley took a step forward before Luke hisses softly in his ear, "What're you doing?"  Kaine leans his head back in the general direction where Luke up, "Shut up, this is apart of the plan." Kaine mutters lowly. </p>
<p class="p1">Kaine intends to follow them, before he grunted--using his right hand to send the stormtrooper to his left toward the wall, telekinetically. He didn't even need to use anymore of his power for the remaining stormtrooper, just the simple act of outstretching his hand toward him caused the soldier to flee. Quickly, Kaine rushed off to find Redar, avoiding stormtroopers along the way.</p>
<hr/>
<p class="p1">Eventually, Kaine found himself in Redar's throne room. The room's floor being a bridge of sorts. Kaine stood in front of him, "Ah, Redar! How the hell are ya?' the young man greeted loudly.</p>
<p class="p1">"Kaine, you can cut the jokes. I know you're scared...and really,<em> there's no reason you shouldn't be.</em>" He got off of his throne, pulling out his lightsaber. "you don't stand a chance against me, you're just a lowly pilot of the Insurgence." Redar sneered, "You'll die and so will the rest of the alliance, as soon as I give out the order." </p>
<p class="p1">"we'll see about that, and I'm sorry to dissipate any and all tension from this scene, but what're you even wearing? even my grandpa and cousin had a better dress sense!" Kaine laughed. Redar was wearing a similar outfit of Vader and Kylo's, and in Kaine's perspective--he couldn't pull it off. Much less impersonate them.</p>
<p class="p1">"Silence, you god forsaken child. I could say the same for you. You can <em>never</em> live up to <strong><em>any</em> </strong>legacy bestowed upon you. <strong><em>You're a complete joke of the Jedi and the Insurgence.</em></strong>" Redar spat, settling into a fighting stance, lightsaber steadied in front of him.</p>
<p class="p1">Kaine made a face at Redar's taunts as he mocked him slightly, before his expression contorted into seriousness. Any joking nature had vanished as evidenced by their posture. The young man pulled out his double bladed lightsaber. "Here's the thing, buddy...I <strong><em>am</em></strong> a Jedi.<strong><em> Like my father before me.</em></strong>" Kaine leveled his lightsaber, trying to block out any fear he had. </p>
<p class="p1">Luke felt a swell of appreciation at that, even though it was redundant to say at this point--he was proud of his son, he loved them.</p>
<p class="p1">Kaine rushed toward Redar and clashed his lightsaber against the Sith's--it went on like that for awhile, the clashing of the 'sabers. Redar saw an opening as Kaine lowered his saber, the sith lord kicked the 15 year old in the stomach, as he fell to the ground. Electricity crackled in Redar's hands as he electrocuted the rebel.</p>
<p class="p1">Kaine screamed in pain--once Redar stopped he tried getting up, but failed. "<em>are you ready to give up yet, Jedi?</em>" Redar cackled. The young Jedi staggered up, ignoring the pain it gave them. "Not yet, n-not yet..." they hissed, slowly picking up their lightsaber. </p>
<p class="p1">"You're pathetic, I might as well give out the order now." Redar shuffled over to his right, pressing the intercom button next to his throne. </p>
<p class="p1">"Abort the plan. Stop any and all ships from infiltrating the Insurgence's base." Kaine commanded, smartly using a mind trick.</p>
<p class="p1">"<em>Abort the plan. Stop any and all ships from infiltrating the Insurgence's base."  </em>Redar repeated, dully. Thankfully, the ships that were ordered to be sent out, stopped. It worked, Hano's original plan had failed.  Redar snapped out of his haze, "what did you do?" he questioned angrily toward a smiling Kaine. "stopped your plans...talk about a lowly pilot, huh?" The young man joked, as Redar seethed. </p>
<p class="p1">"You'll regret this...!" Redar used the force to push Kaine over the bridge's barrier as he started to plummet at a rapid speed. Kaine started to panic, as his first practical solution was to use his built in grappling hook, but he was falling at such a fast rate, the hook wouldn't tie onto the bridge's barrier.</p>
<p class="p1">He called out for anyone to save them--he wasn't going to die here. He wasn't.</p>
<p class="p1">He met the cold floor of a fellow pilot's ship. The pilot, Nej tended to him "you alright?" </p>
<p class="p1">Kaine stood up, "yeah." He looked to his father. "I think I am."</p>
<hr/>
<p class="p1">Kaine and the rest of the alliance, quickly took action--convincing Redar to join them, once all of his defenses were destroyed and he had no other choice to comply.</p>
<p class="p1">Things were looking up, and Kaine guesses--the galaxy was at peace, for now.</p>
<hr/>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
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